Page 3 of See You There
Their relationship had never been quite the same.
By sophomore year, they realized living together, despite what their mother wanted, wasn’t a good option anymore. James moved to an off-campus apartment, and Luke moved into his fraternity’s house. Luke had hoped their shared dream of being lawyers would bring them closer.
However, one spring morning late in their senior year everything changed. James woke him up with the news that hehad enlisted in the Navy and refused to give any explanation for the sudden decision. Luke had felt betrayed.
Looking back, Luke knew his reaction wasn’t rational. He felt like James had pulled the rug out from under him and didn’t even care. In his mind, Luke had pictured them going into practice together some day. Now, not only would he have to worry about his twin being in danger, Luke would be alone.
He’d always been one half of the Bloom twins. With James gone, Luke would be forced to face being a Bloom heir, and all the attention and notoriety that came with it, without his best friend.
After James got out of the military, things only got worse between them. James went to law school, but turned his nose up at what Luke was doing—criminal defense. Luke defended his share of scumbags in the early years, but he could honestly say he never defended a client he knew was guilty—primarily because he always told his clientsnotto tell him if they were. And if they did, he tried to get a plea deal rather than go to trial.
His client list, combined with his active social life, meant James thought Luke was a prime candidate for the mayor of Sodom or Gomorrah.
A few months ago, James confided to Luke that he was burned out working for the federal prosecutor’s office in Miami. Luke immediately offered his brother a position in his Atlanta firm. Over the past two years, their family had been through a lot.
Their father died, leaving a vast media empire to his new wife, Courtney Crawford. Their sister Cara, had been at the center of a global tabloid scandal that ended up with her physically fighting off a stalker. And then there was Declan, and his crusade to prove that Courtney had murdered their father.
“Speaking of honeymoons…” James’s words penetrated Luke’s thoughts. “Cara and Wes will be back in a few days. I thought we could all get dinner to welcome them back.”
Luke and James’s younger sister had also moved to Atlanta in the last year and recently married. Luke still had his reservations about the new brother-in-law. He didn’t object to the fact Wes was a hacker. His concerns all stemmed from the fact that his baby half-sister had met and married the guy in only five months. But there was no doubt it was the happiest he’d ever seen Cara. For her sake, Luke would do his best to welcome Wes into their complicated family dynamic.
“I can do it next week. I have a flight tomorrow.” Luke screwed the top back on the water bottle and lobbed it into the trashcan, holding his arms up in triumph when it went in without even brushing the sides.
James’s forehead wrinkled. “He hasn’t cancelled yet?”
“Not yet.” Luke’s voice was grim. “Dr. Keller has put me off for months, but when I told him I bought a plane ticket to come see him in Rhode Island, he didn’t argue. He seems to have finally accepted the inevitability of it.”
James nodded. “Cara is convinced, after the conversation she had with him at her mother’s wedding, that he is ready to tell us what he knows about Dad’s death. Since he specifically wants to talk to you, he must think he needs protection.”
“Mrs. Woodson’s murder had to have spooked him. There are only a few people left alive who were on the estate during that time. He might be worried he’s next.”
“All this time, I thought Declan was just angry about the will,” James admitted, referring to their elder half-brother. “But since Cara found those faked pictures in Dublin, and then Mrs. Woodson’s murder immediately after… He’s right. I think someone killed him.”
Luke glanced at the open door and then took a step to close it. The Bloom family was scandalous enough. He didn’t need his associates overhearing.
“I spoke to Declan yesterday. He’s staying on top of the police in Rhode Island, but there aren’t any leads. They are still treating it as a robbery gone wrong, but I agree with Declan. It’s too coincidental that right after Cara told Courtney that Mrs. Woodson was helping Declan, Mrs. Woodson was suddenly killed in a home invasion.” Luke pursed his lips.
“Cara is blaming herself,” James sighed. “She thinks that if she hadn’t revealed to our stepmother and Dr. Keller that Mrs. Woodson was helping Declan, then they wouldn’t have gone after her. Until Mrs. Woodson revealed that Dad thought he was being poisoned, they didn’t have a reason to kill her. It makes me wonder what it was they were worried she could still share.”
“There’s no way Cara could have known what they would do. Besides, it might be that Mrs. Woodson’s death pricked the last remnants of Dr. Keller’s conscience, and it motivated him to finally agree to talk with me. He can’t believe I’d defend him…”
“I still can’t wrap my brain around the idea that Chris is involved.” James shook his head.
“We don’t know for sure he is.” Luke pointed out. “But it would explain why Dr. Keller has been so reluctant to talk to me. He doesn’t want to implicate his son. But the question is, at what point was Chris involved? Was it before Dad died, or did he get involved after to help cover up something Elliot Keller did?”
James’s gray eyes met his twin’s. “Declan is pretty convinced Chris was in it from the beginning. Declan’s even more fucked up than before.”
Luke shoved a hand back through his thick chestnut hair. “And that’s saying something. I’m starting to worry about what he might do. The police still won’t open an investigation into Dad’s death, and they are making no headway in finding out whowas responsible for Mrs. Woodson’s. Even after we laid out the evidence for them.”
James frowned. “You don’t think Declan would—”
“Take justice into his own hands? If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have said no. But now… with everything that’s happened… We’ve always had our mom’s balancing force in our lives. Declan had Dad and Siobhan. And then when you factor in his brother Seamus and that family…”
“Seamus is still in prison, right?”
“Yeah, but Declan’s the product ofbothfamilies.” Luke grimaced. There was a darkness in their older brother they didn’t share. “Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, Dr. Keller will tell me whatever’s been weighing on him, and we will have some more answers.”
James looked skeptical. “Maybe coming face to face with his mortality gave him the backbone he needed. Will he be healthy enough for his statement to hold up in court? You need to be sure everything you do is completely legal. Any hint of coercion and a judge could thro—”
